Launching the futures contract in coriander, Forward Markets commission chairman B C Khatua hoped that it would cater to the requirements of the value chain participants. Speaking on the occasion, NCDEX Managing director and CEO R Ramaseshan said coriander futures is the latest addition to the existing basket of spices contracts that could be traded on the Exchange. Chilli, pepper, turmeric and jeera were the other spices that are being traded on the Exchange.

The specifications of the coriander contract have been designed to suit the needs of the value chain participants, particularly hedgers, he added. The Badami variety of coriander has been launched on NCDEX as this grade was the most widely used in the country. The contract is with compulsory delivery and the unit of trading is 10 tonnes. The tick size is Re 1 and the delivery centres are Kota, Jaipur (both in Rajasthan) and Guna (Madhya Pradesh). NCDEX which started operations on December 15, 2003 had an average daily volume (one way) of around Rs 3,000 crore.